[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 99 (Wednesday, July 14, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H5464]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         HOUSE MUST PASS A MEANINGFUL MANAGED CARE REFORM BILL

  (Mr. GREEN of Texas asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GREEN of Texas. Mr. Speaker, during the July 4th celebrations, I 
had the opportunity to experience the quality health care that is 
offered in my own hometown of Houston, and it made me come back 
realizing how important a real, meaningful managed care reform bill is 
and what is going on in the United States Senate.
  The American people have been clear to us that they want meaningful 
managed care reform. It is estimated that 122 million Americans do not 
have simple patient protections. This is not about politics, Democrat 
versus Republican, it is about what patients need and the providing of 
quality health care.
  We need to eliminate gag laws. Patients need to talk to their doctor 
about their injuries. We need to have access to specialists and 
particularly make those doctors the one to define a medical necessity. 
We need to have an external-internal appeals process. We need to cover 
emergency room care instead of making someone have to decide they have 
to go past the closest emergency room to one on their list. They ought 
to get the health care they need immediately.
  We should also have accountability. If the doctor making the decision 
is accountable and he is under law, so should the person making that 
decision in place of that doctor. This is not about employees suing 
employers. It is not about higher costs for health care. In fact, our 
own Congressional Budget Office and our own experience in the State of 
Texas shows there was little or no cost at all in providing these 
protections.
  Let us not lose this opportunity to help our constituents.

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